Monkey Zero
by NightingdayFlaaffy
Summary: Phase One. A monkey tailed boy is sent away to where all trash ends up in England for unexplained reasons and befriends Noodle in the process. His strange abilities and looks lead Murdoc and 2D to believe the child is Russel's, yet nothing is adding up to support their theories. Who is this robotic woman that band keeps seeing and why is Del growing hostile towards the boy?
1. Package

**Chapter One: Zero-chan**

Loneliness is a horrible feeling that plagues the human race, it affected children worse than adults and Noodle was suffering from a bad case of the lonelies today. It was early afternoon in late April, clear skies and warm weather gave good fortune to the people who went to enjoy the fair forecast but not Noodle. No, she was trapped inside this god forsaken mansion with nothing to do. She couldn't go outside without one the boys watching her however; they were too busy to pay any attention to her. 'Busy', 'busy', 'busy'; it was all she heard instead of any other words come from the men's mouths these days. To express her growing anger towards them, Noodle began a vow of silence and ignored for a day and a half. This had the guitarist steaming with rage and she hid herself in the lobby, furiously mashing the buttons on her Gameboy on the couch with her feet propped on the coffee table. She was depressed, only wanted a friend to play with and the boys couldn't even let her have that.

The monotone ring of the doorbell echoed across the still, stale air of the lobby and Noodle unglued her eyes from her video game to the dusty, glass double doors. There was a young man wearing a plain, brown uniform holding a clipboard to his side standing outside, waiting patiently for Noodle to answer. Noodle remembered Russel informing her to never open the door to strangers but she noticed a 10 foot crate behind the man that closely resembles the crate she had arrived in at Kong. It seemed important, so what harm could come from it? Tossing her Gameboy on the couch; Noodle hopped up and strolled over to the glass doors; she cautiously opened the door for the skinny uniformed man and watched him push the crate into the lobby.

"Alrighty, little girl," The man knelt to Noodle's eye level, glancing over his clipboard once then twice before continuing his sentence. "All the paperwork is in order and already signed off. Can you tell your parents their package has come?" Noodle tilted her head as she slowly picked apart the man's command, understanding a few words like 'parents' and 'package'. She nodded her head in response. The man gave the child a firm pat on the head before giving a warm goodbye and walking briskly down the concrete steps. As the delivery man travelled out of Noodle's line of sight, her facial expression hardened into a deep scowl and she began kicking the box in hopes of breaking the contents inside.

With one more good kick, the box flipped over on its side, the sound of the box hitting the floor and the wood splitting startled Noodle a bit. Something had moved within the crate and Noodle kept her distance as the top of the crate fell open. A small boy tumbled out the box, no younger than Noodle, wearing only a pair of black spandex shorts. His hair was spiky and long enough to touch the floor, a messy coal black bird's nest of hair. He yawned, scratching at the track marks on his arms and his back with the tip of his brown monkey tail, not noticing Noodle nearby. His ribs were poking through his dark brown skin from malnutrition plus ugly blueish-black bruises covering most of his body and a yellow plastic cattle tag attached to his left ear lobe with the number 23 written on it in black ink, someone had abused him before ending up in that crate.

"Um…hallo?" Noodle greeted the boy sheepish, waving her hand to catch the boy's attention.

The boy grinned, baring his tiny fanged teeth and wiggling his tail. "Hiiii…" He said; his voice sounded slightly like a young male human synthesizer; awkwardly waving back by bending his fingers and his milky white eyes narrowed with contentment. Without warning, the boy began to circle Noodle while walking on his hands and feet, peculiarly sniffing the guitarist's skin. He was strange boy but then again, 'normal' wasn't a word typically used in the Gorillaz vocabulary so fitting in wouldn't be a problem for him. She wondered if the boy had a name though.

"Noods, you okay?" The voice of 2D called from the basement stairwell, his hollow footsteps became louder as he drew closer to the door. "I thought I heard something break." The noise of a different person's voice frightened the boy causing him to flee back into the confines of the FedEx crate, observing the young man emerging from the depths of the basement. His skin was pale like a porcelain statue, spiky hair more blue than the ocean floor and onyx eyes that seemed like never-ending black holes. 2D walked over to Noodle and was immediately barraged by fast paced Japanese; Noodle could hardly contain her excitement.

2D covered Noodle's mouth. "Slow down, little love. I can't understand what you're saying." Grabbing the singer by the arm, Noodle dragged 2D over to the open crate and made him kneel so the tall man could peer inside the dark box.

"Zero-chan," Noodle called into the box, giving the boy a name that reflected how she knew nothing about him. "Toochi friend, no scared." She tried to use the cheeriest tone to coax the boy out of hiding and with success; Zero gradually crawled out as he kept his eyes glued to the singer. In worry, he clutched a white stuffed cat closely to him; the cat was worn and grimy yet it a happy smile on its face even though its eyes mirrored agony and misery. Zero's tail waved to and fro, the sight of it amused Noodle but shocked 2D a bit. Kneeling to Zero's eye level, Stu glanced over to the damaged FedEx crate then back to bizarre child. A thought began to form in 2D vacant mind, causing the little hamster in his brain to wake from its slumber and start running on his wheel again. Then it hit him like one of Murdoc's many punches.

_He looks just like Russel._


	2. White Coats

**Chapter Two: White Coats**

2D pondered for a while on the thought of Russel being a father, it really wasn't like him to have one-night stands. But, then again, there weren't any other logical choices of why Zero looked just like the drummer. Outside his head, the singer wore a blank expression on his face as he continued to gaze at the boy and meditate over the thought while Zero began to feel uncomfortable. Noodle took the boy's hand; knowing the singer was a lost hope when he started thinking over something complicated; heading towards the elevator, planning to give the boy a tour of Kong starting with the kitchen. The metal doors creaked open and Zero hesitated to proceed but with soft coaxing, Noodle was able convince him to enter the elevator. Their stomachs rumbled simultaneously when the doors open again.

"Appu!" Zero shouted in happiness as he pointed to the red, round fruit on the counter. He remembered how much he loved the sweetness and juiciness of red apples; it was the only thing he was given to eat before. Noodle smiled while she sat at the table, slurping on some instant ramen as she looked at Zero staring at the apple hungrily. Only seconds passed, Zero gave into his hunger and snatched the apple up from the counter then sat down next to Noodle. He liked Noodle; she didn't judge him for being different or strange. She wasn't like_ them. _Something just snapped in the back of Zero's head as the word '_them'_ came into his mind. '_Them.' _His mind could hold a lot of information, like names and simple commands. It was quite hard for him to remember any part of his past. It didn't faze him at all, nor affect his mental health in any way. '_They'_ made sure of that. He didn't understand why '_they'_ would stab slender sharp things into his body, making him cry out in pain and feel sick. _'They' _would do it every day; tying him down to onto a cold, flat bed and prick pointy things into him. It was never-ending to Zero, no relief to the torture. '_They' _would lock him in a metal box for days at a time. He would sleep there on the cold metal floor, haunted by nightmares of blood and murder. He would call _'them' _White Coats for the blinding white clothing they would wear. Zero was shivering from head to toe at the recollection of those sick monsters and burning with fury, he didn't notice he had squeezed the apple into a mushy mess. Even though the apple was ruined, Zero still ate the fruit gratefully.

_**A/N: Sorry that this chapter is so short. I don't know if I should continue this story, really. -NDF**_


	3. Enter Murdoc Niccals

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews, it helps knowing people do want me to continue writing. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart -NDF**

**Chapter Three: Enter Murdoc Niccals**

The sun was gradually setting over the trash covered hilltops, transforming the dark blue sky into salmon pink like tuna you would feed your cats for dinner on the porch. Touring the whole mansion that day without rest except to eat; Noodle and Zero found themselves out on the balcony, leaning up against the metal railing as they watched the sun lowering itself in the twilight skies. Zero had never seen such a sight in his life; the image just amazed him to speechlessness. His face dropped and his drooped in disappointment when the sun was soon replaced by the First Quarter moon.

"Why sun gone?" Zero asked Noodle, upset about the sun setting. His voice lowered in frequency, making his feelings more recognized.

"Night," Noodle said, glancing at the yellow cattle tag she saw on his left ear when they first met earlier in the day. She reached over to touch the plastic tag, Zero curiously eyed Noodle's movements closely as started to fiddle with it. Careful not to hurt her new friend, Noodle gently unhooked the cattle tag from Zero's ear and then chucked it out into the landfill with all her might. The yellow tag sailed through the air and disappeared into the trash that hid hundreds of acres surrounded Kong. Noodle had granted him freedom, free from those White Coats, Zero could barely contain his tears of joy. He scooped Noodle up in his arms and twirled her around in circles; the strange boy was just beaming with happiness. Wrapping his tail around her waist softly, Zero carried Noodle inside the Studio, away from the lowering temperatures of the night. _'She's the only one who will understand you,' _the voices in his head whispered faintly in the depths of his mind. _'Keep her close. Protect her at all costs….'_

"One, two, three,"

The pink and grey paper lanterns hanging from the blood red ceiling were the center of Zero's attention as Noodle sat on her bed, brushing his long hair and counting the brushstrokes in a sing-songy tone. With no mother figure around to do these kinds of girly things, the little Asian had no other way but to use Zero as a model, though Zero wasn't complaining. He liked Noodle pampering him like he was special; she was so kind and sweet. What did Noodle call the tall, blue-headed man? _Toochi? _ Zero liked him also because was different, just like he was. Their eyes were unnatural, their hair was unruly and both were skinny; two abnormal beings out of the normal, happy folk in the world. Unexpectedly, a sudden sharp pain in head had Zero rubbing his temples vigorously and grinding his pointed teeth in discomfort. Noodle stopped her brushing and rested her hand on his shoulder, uncertain what was causing her friend's pain. But as she touched his shoulder, Noodle was blinded by the white light Zero now emitted from his body. She shielded her eyes from the brightness, what she didn't see was Zero's body rapidly morphing into a lankier physique, his limbs elongating and his long hair becoming shorter.

The light finally dissipated and Noodle lifted her hands from her face, stunned to see a shirtless 2D sitting where Zero sat before. She was confused now, where was Zero and why was 2D randomly here? How did he get here? Sadly, Noodle's question went unanswered when a certain Cuban Boot heel came crashing through the bedroom door, knocking the poor thing from its hinges. '2D' and Noodle screamed at horrid sight of a very pissed off Murdoc with his scythe tightly in his hands, his eyes held fiery death as he glared at '2D', slightly staggering towards him. Who knows what the bassist was truly angry about but he had to take it all out on 2D.


End file.
